First Buches de Noel of the 2009 Season

I very recently made my first buche de Noel of this year. Three of them in fact. It was for a catering job that I did for a private party of 65 people in a very nice part of Paris. The customers are extremely gracious people, who have both an air of approachability and warmth alongside a very hefty dose of elegance. I wanted to try to make a Buche de Noel that reflected this.

The occasion was a birthday celebration for the husband. So, of course, a birthday cake of some sort was in order. Why not in the form of a buche de Noel. It is the season afterall!

And with that as a backdrop, I have to share a little insight into the difference between the French and Amercian cultures...

What I just explained about using a buche de Noel as a birthday cake with candles and all.....that is soooo American! When I went to shop (and hopefully buy) a rectangular box especially made for a buche de Noel.......I received a look of disbelief from the clerk. The specialty boxes were stacked on the highest shelf in the store - not at all reachable -- as if it was just part of inventory (in a Costco kind of way). I had to ask for help to get them down (as tall as I am, I could not even consider trying to grab them myself). Eventually there were two guys helping me on this little project and both shook their heads, "No, no - pas possible (not possible). It's too early for a buche de Noel". I chuckled to myself (if only they knew the sacred Buche would be used as a birthday cake...). I chuckled some more to myself (it's not like it's July or something....it was already the 3rd of December afterall!).

After a bit more talking, and coxing, they eventually agreed to at least try to ring it up to see if it's sell-able. The skeptical clerks went all the way to the other side of the store.....and 20 minutes later I had my answer. With an air of perplexity and disbelief, they said "mais, oui". I could buy it afterall. And let me tell you something......this whole episode that I just described.........it is sooooooo french!

p.s. In case you're wondering, here are the flavors used in my modern take on the classic Buche de Noel: lemon genoise (sponge cake) with a rasberry jelly filling, coated with a layer of chocolate butter cream frosting, that was then coated with a dark chocolate glaçage (layer). And decorated as shown.

/dma

Happy 2009

Thought I might share some New Year's Eve cheer a few days early....I think this picture epitomizes the grandiose feeling that each New Year's Eve brings, or at least, evokes: elegance, hope, celebration of what has been and what will be, good company and good cheer. No matter what the state of the economy today, I'm holding on to this ideal....

Blinis with smoked salmon, crème fraîche & caviar


Wishing everyone a happy and healthy, (and let's hope prosperous) 2009!
Happy New Year to you!

I'll be back in touch after we return from our "desert adventure". :)

Christmas in Paris, 2008 - Part 3

Here's what I saw last night on my walk home to our apartment: the blue Christmas tree in front of Notre Dame de Paris. And I almost had la place (the plaza) to myself. Hardly anyone was there. I love moments like that.


Then I passed by our little boulangerie-patisserie. I'm so glad to have this shop right around the corner...and in fact, it's a respected name here in Paris: Gosselin. Nice decorations outside; even nicer decorations inside!! It's hard not to stop and look in the window. The buche de noël are especially tempting...but I said to myself that I wanted to make one at home again this year. We'll see if there is enough time, or not, but it's always nice to have a back-up plan, isn't it?

Finally, on a more personal not...at home - here's our little Christmas tree (and us). The tree is cute, isn't it? Same size as last year...I'm starting to like the scaled down Christmas. By the time I finished decorating it, I was just getting tired of doing the job...which made it perfect timing. Any longer & I would've needed a break....any shorter & I would've felt like I wanted to do more.

Last year it was Eric who surprised me with a tree, all decorated. Mom and I were making the buche de noël in the kitchen without a clue that anything was happening out in the living room. What a surprise we had when, into the room we went, there we found a cute little tree, all lit up and decorated! This year, it was my turn. While Eric was off playing (I mean working) in the French Alps for the weekend, I decided to surprise him. He liked it. And what really makes our little tree complete are those little packages under the tree....sent all the way from Appleton, Wisconsin with hugs & kisses from mom & dad (hidden behind us).

Bonnes fêtes de fin d'anée - Happy Holidays to everyone.

Christmas in Paris, 2008 - Part 2

I think the Champs Elysée is always stylish when dressed in its holiday lights. This year, I think for the first time ever, there is a big Christmas market starting at Place Concorde and going along the Champs Elysée. In Chicago, a similar idea (but on a much smaller scale) is called the "Christkindlmarket". In Strasburg or in Alsace, the real Christmas markets can be found. Oops, that's a faux pas if ever there was one....I guess we need to actually go to Germany to see the real "real markets". (Right, Ulla?!)

Seeing as we have a thing for these markets, we decided to check out what the Champs Elysee has to offer. We heard that each country of the EU would be represented and would be offering specialty Christmas items from its region. Great idea we thought. We started our excursion at Place du Concorde & walked toward the Arche de Triomphe. The beautiful lights sprawling the Champs Elysée charmed us. I especially liked the spheres of lights sitting in a shallow pool of water, showing a spectacularly nice reflection. At Rue Montaigne, we were drawn in by the beautiful red lights lining the street. All of this was great. I do love lights. Here are some pictures - doesn't it look nice?

And it is a very nice idea, but unfortunately, I think the market itself somehow lacked a spirit. The spirit of what we thought it was going to be. Maybe the taxi driver got the story wrong about it having regional products from the EU countries. Maybe the time of day had something to do with our disappointment. First, avoid going on a late Sunday afternoon, like we did. It was absolutely packed with people, which obviously took the fun away from browsing each booth. Second, avoid (if possible), going there after it rains because the dirt path that boarders the relatively narrow paved sidewalk turns into a puddle of mud. This is especially a problem if you happen to accidently step in a big puddle (like someone I know!) trying to get a look at the rather maigre (thin) Santa Claus....! I wish we had seen a lot of really cool hand crafted items, but we only saw a few. And imagine our surprise when we saw a booth hosted by GDFSuez....not selling a tangible thing (or was it energy they were trying to sell? kidding)...well, it was hard to find the symbolism of Christmas anyway. We ended up seeing a somewhat limited view of the market given the dynamics at play that day, and when we got to the metro Franklin Roosevelt, we called it quits. Too many people; not enough energy to fight the crowd, and really only a limited interest in what merchandise we could see, unfortunately. Oh, well, it was worth checking out anyway. For the lights alone.

p.s. I heard that the ferris wheel at Place Concorde is really great -- each cabin is enclosed in glass and they're heated....doesn't that sound like fun?!

Christmas in Paris, 2008 - Part 1

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas....everywhere I go....

Christmas in Paris is very nice. Definitely quiet, but nice nonetheless - most Parisians leave the city to spend time with their families en province (anything outside of Paris). So, that leaves lots of tranquility for those of us staying behind....definitely a good thing if you're looking for a stress-free holiday, and who isn't?

Over the past three years, I've seen more & more lights and decorations hit the streets. However, if you ask me, it's still not over-the-top, even if hints of commercialism seem to be creeping in. I started to see decorations before Thanksgiving, which gave me a chuckle since without the Thanksgiving holiday to officially happen first, it's kind of OK to see it start before the last Thursday of November, if you know what I mean!

Here are a few photos from yesterday - to share some holiday spirit from Paris.



This is the big Christmas tree inside the Galeries Lafayette department store: still beautiful as ever. I never seem to grow tired of looking at all of its regal splendor.

Below are some pictures of the decorated windows at Galeries Lafayette. Very adorable, in a festive sort of way. But, you won't find traditional holiday fare here - not one bit. No reindeer. No Santa. No snow or snowman. No green; no red. No North Pole...no wrapped gifts under a tree....well, you get the picture (abundantly). But, hey, we are in Paris after all, so who says it has to have the symbolism that I'm accustomed to back in the states??!!



Back to fantasy land Paris style....it's nice. I'm not sure I understand what some of the window stories are saying as far a Christmas goes...I mean, there are teddy bears dressed in surgical gowns flying through the air...and, pink flamingos standing on their heads on a patch of strawberries...(see below)?

It's all pure fantasy, simply put, and if there's a story interwoven between each window...well, I admit it went over my head. That's no matter - these elaborate productions are to be appreciated for what they are - full of motion, magic, and sweet dreams. They made me smile, even if I felt the colors were gearing me up for Valentine's day instead of Christmas. But I digress....

I'm glad I saw the charming windows at Galeries Lafayette this year...because Christmas without seeing their fantasy land is just not complete! (This must come from the many years of seeing the Marshall Field's State Street windows in Chicago....now called Macy's...but I'll always remember it as Marshall Field's). If you go to Galeries Lafayette or Printemps, however, be warned that the crowds can be large...













I hadn't expected to write this entire post on Galeries Lafayette...so more later on other photos of Christmas in Paris, 2008. A bienôt! (See you soon!)